Lyichir

Or maybe, having it perfectly match what it would look like made of tiles was less important to them than the letters looking right proportionally. I didn't notice a problem with it and I expect that would be the case for most people, who would simply notice that the colored tile shapes matched the kinds you can get in the sets.

You're right that the south specifically didn't have subways, but it did have trolley and tram lines, many of which have gone out of service like some of the subterranean systems farther to the north. An abandoned subway still fits with Hidden Side's overall aesthetic of post-industrial urban decay. Castles are a little less so. Mainland America didn't really have much in the way of castles. There are rare examples, usually manor-type castles built by rich eccentrics, but that's about it. Finally, I am going to ask you politely not to talk down to me. I am under no illusion that a Lego theme like this has to adhere strictly to the real world, but the fact that we do have a real world setting that many of the sets have drawn from can certainly help to inform our expectations for the theme going forward, especially in the absence of more in-depth descriptions. That's why I raised the possibility that the castle might be a structure within the Hidden Side itself, and thus have differing architecture to the world of the living as has been depicted thus far. I'd already considered the possibility that the "Welcome to the Hidden Side" set probably wouldn't be the only set we'd get with that aesthetic, and a large castle-type set could complement the portal set nicely as well as serve as a good climax for this year's plotline of Lady E. trying to kidnap Jack and bring him to the Hidden Side. This could also be possibility, especially since the list we're working from is translated from Spanish in the first place.

The submarine sounds neat if it's anywhere near as nice as the similarly priced Beach Buggy. I'm curious what kind of possessed character might be found in this set since we've already gotten a diver in the current wave. Maybe we could get a creepy animal as well like the alligator from the Shrimp Boat set. The race car is also cool sounding—we haven't gotten a haunted vehicle since last year's ghost train. I'll be curious to see how the color wheel is affixed, considering that this year's sets have made a point to have the color wheel be an exterior piece of technology on haunted subjects (rather than integrated into the build like in most of the ghost-fighting vehicles or all of last year's sets). That might be harder to do effectively on a subject that's mobile, unless they come up with a creative solution that still works narratively. An abandoned prison is an interesting subject as well, and fairly fitting for the setting. Of course, if the prison is abandoned I'm curious what kind of possessed citizen would be found there—would an abandoned prison still have security guards there? The number in the name of the Fire Truck set makes it sound like rather than being a haunted vehicle, it might be a ghost-hunting vehicle like the Paranormal Intercept Bus 3000. A little confused by the castle considering castles are not a typical fixture of Hidden Side's deep south setting. Perhaps like the "Welcome to the Hidden Side" set it's part of the Hidden Side itself, rather than the regular version of Newbury? If so that will probably be our best chance to get "Hidden Side" versions of characters other than Jack as well as more physical ghosts (hopefully including at least one blue "sad" ghost and maybe even a bigfig ghost if they figure out a way to make that work physically).

Another reason for the lack of dioramas (and probably the biggest reason of all) is just a lack of space. There are a lot more sets out each year than there were a few decades ago. Meanwhile, the modern Lego catalogs have been downsized dramatically (probably due to the web shop replacing direct phone orders from the catalog as the primary way to buy sets direct from Lego) and usually don't even contain the full range of sets available anymore. Including large one- to two-page dioramas would cut down even more on the number of sets that could be shown clearly in each catalog, particularly if you wanted to include information like set descriptions as well. That said, things like those dioramas live on (to a certain extent) in the key art featured in the instruction booklets for themes like Ninjago or Hidden Side. Most years have a piece of key art that, while often illustrated rather than built physically, shows off a wide range of the available sets for that wave in a shared space.

Apart from the smartphones, what exactly is it about the theme that doesn't fit with a '80s aesthetic? Most of Newbury is rather dated and in fact even decaying —things like old abandoned subways, quaint little train stations, greasy spoon diners and a high school building that to be honest looks like it could be eighty to a hundred years old. None of those subjects really feel like the slick, pristine subject matter we get in the City theme, even if they are modern enough to share things like the Octan or railway logo. If anything, the more modern setting provides justification for the level of dilapidation present in the town, which might not really feel as natural during a booming time period like the 1960s. Really the only thing that firmly establishes the theme as more modern than that is the protagonists, who quite reasonably are meant to be relatable to modern kids. It's a very different scenario than a show like Stranger Things, which is aimed at older audiences including people nostalgic for that time period. Kids generally don't get that sense of nostalgia for a time period they never knew firsthand, and older time periods such as medieval times have a very different appeal (one of escapism and adventure) that a time period as recent as thirty to forty years ago doesn't really provide. Beyond the protagonists, it's not like the other figs would even look that out of place in an older time period. The school set, for instance, features formal outfits for the adults that wouldn't have changed much in the past fifty years, while the kids wear things like varsity jackets or basketball jerseys that likewise aren't exactly a modern invention. The diner set features an extremely retro waitress fig and a disheveled looking chef, neither of whom seem particularly modern. The train set features relatively classic looking uniforms for the railroad workers, though the gender equity between the two figs offered might be atypical of older time periods (which if anything is yet another reason why a modern time period is a better choice). And so on and so forth throughout the rest of the theme. There's a lot of retro appeal there if you cut the cell phones out of the equation.

One idea I've been trying to MOC, but with little success, is a Hidden Side basketball court. There are several characters in team jerseys or varsity jackets for the "Squids" already. A basketball court set (or half-court, if they wanted it to be smaller) could feature hoops that "lunge" forward as the backboard flips to reveal haunted jaws or claws, a scoreboard that could switch its display to a haunted face, and figs such as basketball players (who in a possessed form could make great use of extended torso parts like the ones in the Shrimp Shack or Fairground), cheerleaders, or even a mascot costume (which could either be a fig in a specially molded costume like in the CMFs or a bulky brick-built costume on fig legs like the Lion Dance figures in this year's Chinese New Year sets). Depending on how contained/walled off the set was, it could also potentially complement the existing High School set really well.

Very neat! The overall aesthetic is a bit too chaotic for my personal taste, but I love the thought you've put into all the details, especially the little touches of whimsy like the carrot fingers on the left hand!

I would guess that this is not "Digi Zane" from the new series, but rather a version of Zane from the Rebooted arc when all four original ninja received Lloyd's golden power in the Digiverse (much like the Gold Ninja Kai we had already gotten in a previous promo). I do think it's a bit of a shame that we're getting Cyrus Borg's chair, but not Borg himself. This could have been an opportunity to get a more "normal" version of Borg (even if they used the mechanical version of his chair for play potential, we could at least then swap it out for a regular wheelchair now that those are available).

Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure Mattel retains the toy rights to the series just as they do for its parent series Masters of the Universe. I also am not sure how well mini-dolls would work. Even as a fan of them, I have to admit that one of their greatest weaknesses is that they really only offer a couple different body types. I'm not sure it would do the series justice to have She-Ra be the same height and build as the shorter, more heavyset Glimmer. Minifigures' greater variety (with three standard leg lengths currently) and increased level of abstraction (with differences in body type usually printed on the figure rather than made explicit in their molding) would at least help to gloss over those disparities a bit.

The color that Bricklink calls "Very Light Bluish Gray" has been discontinued since when Mindstorms NXT retired. It's also pretty unmistakeable—almost more of an off-white than a grey due to how light it is. Your situation is more likely to be run of the mill discoloration.

Regarding the head wraps, one of the tricky bits is that the further you get from a traditional head wrap, the less recognizable the characters are as, y'know, ninja. And I think reuse outside that context should come secondary to their suitability for that original context (since, after all, there's plenty of opportunity for more typical space or castle helmets in other themes as well). The most versatile ninja mask outside that original context would probably be the simple lower face mask from 2014, which is basic enough to work for other sorts of cultures and can be paired with a wide variety of headgear or hair to boot. When I was conceptualizing a wave like this a while back, I was leaning more toward Lovecraftian sea creature antagonists for the villains. Though that might come a little close to the less eldritch but still aquatic-themed Shark Army from the movie. Space might be even more challenging than underwater when it comes to retaining that Ninjago flavor. Spacesuits and ninja costumes might be a little hard to visually integrate (though I'm sure if I sought it out some non-Lego concept artist has taken a stab at it), and while both the show and the graphic novels have at one point featured individual episodes involving space travel, taking the story to space at length might take things too far in a straight sci-fi direction without as much opportunity to evoke the traditional Japanese flavor that has been evident even in the more cyberpunk waves like Rebooted or this upcoming wave. I wouldn't say it's impossible, but I also think it might be too much of a leap to take before other opportunities are exhausted and more groundwork has been laid as far as how the island continent of Ninjago relates to the planet at large and the cosmos beyond that.

I've definitely considered the possibility of an underwater Ninjago wave in the past. I'm not sure a crossover with those other themes would be necessary or even advisable, though, given that Atlantis and Aquazone already have plenty of their own worldbuilding that might be hard to reconcile with Ninjago's, while Aquazone and Aqua Raiders also don't have that much in the way of iconic characters in the first place. One challenge I encountered when trying to conceptualize a wave like that back in the day was how to have the ninja visibly wear diving gear while still retaining that iconic ninja look. It's possible that recolors/redecorations of the new "cyber" headgear could work for that purpose, possibly combined with some type of air tanks depending on how well they'd fit with the headgear.

See, I never noticed this change since I already try to be logged in both for the ability to comment and log my collection as well as to reduce the frankly excessive number of ads. Since there's no membership fee or obligation to use other features of the account, it doesn't hurt to sign up for one just for the convenience.

Think of it as an estimated guess. There's no confirmation of whether or not one of next year's D2C sets will be a Ninjago one, but the Temple of Airjitzu didn't retire until shortly before Ninjago City took its place, so with Ninjago City now retired and Ninjago remaining a top-selling theme, it's not too much of a stretch to assume that a new Ninjago D2C might be introduced to take its place before the end of next year.

Yeah, the "avatar" variants of the ninja in the Gamer's Market are a real letdown compared to the much flashier "avatar" figs from the arcade pods. Yes, it's funny that Cole's avatar is his previous disguise Rocky Dangerbuff, and that Zane's is the classic pink ninja variant from the show, but neither their avatars nor Nya's hold a candle to the completely original printing and recolors for Kai, Jay, and Lloyd. And unfortunately if those avatars are in fact the ones they'll use in the show, I doubt either Nya, Cole, or Zane will get different ones in the remaining sets. It's a shame we only seem to be getting three arcade pods compared to the larger number of spinner sets we got in sets these previous two years. Oh, back on the subject of why we haven't gotten either VR or new Legacy variants of Zane yet, one thing I forgot to mention in addition to the four unallocated set numbers is that I highly suspect we may get a new Ninjago D2C set this coming year (since Ninjago City and the Docks are both finally retiring). Since D2C sets tend to sell for multiple years, I reckon it's more likely that it will receive the Legacy branding and feature more "classic" Legacy variants of the ninja (either last year's, this year's, or maybe even an entirely new set of costumes)—possibly even all six of them, like the Temple of AIrjitzu. No idea what sort of set that might entail—one possibility that I can't help but hope for would be a large Borg Tower, but it's possible that they might choose something less specific to the third season in particular. Still, I would keep that possibility in mind, since we know very little about this coming year's D2C sets and unless there are leaks we're unlikely to find out much more than a month or so before their scheduled release dates.

That's certainly fair. Though on the other hand, original themes do frequently get visual media ranging from full series to miniseries to shorter form webisodes. Sometimes in the cases of themes like Elves (which over the course of its four-year run got twelve 22-minute TV episodes, and over 30 shorter webisodes), this can ultimately amount to much more visual story media per year than those licensed themes get in the form of one individual movie or TV special per year. There's also, unfortunately, the very real possibility that those licensed movies get fancy DVD releases in part because the popularity of their licenses gives them greater sales potential in stores. The reality is that even non-Lego fans are far more likely to buy a DVD based on a well-known character like Batman than they would be to buy a DVD based on an unknown cast of characters originating from a toyline. Another factor that probably plays a big role is how many of those licensed DVDs and TV specials are produced directly by the license-holders themselves. Companies like WB, Universal, and Disney just have more experience with animation, more connections in the industry (including with writers, actors and TV networks), and are probably willing to devote more resources to media based on their own brands than they are for Lego's in-house brands. So in the case of the Lego Batman specials, WB already has the animators on-hand as well as connections with voice actors who have previously voiced those characters in non-Lego media, not to mention the sales data and audience numbers to back up direct-to-DVD movies based on that stable of brands as well as entire TV networks under their parent company's umbrella. Conversely, Lego likely has to do a lot more of the legwork for their own in-house brands, especially newer or less established ones that they'll have a harder time selling distributors on.

On the one hand I sort of agree, but on the other hand Spring Yellowish Green is far from the most versatile recolor for most of those sorts of parts as far as MOCs are concerned, and the new ghostly elements like the weapon pre-pack or the tilted and two-headed torso extensions feel like they go farther to make the ghost figs distinctive than the ghostly recolors of conventional minifig accessories did. I suppose it would have been nice to get both (with accessories like the clown's umbrella or the diver's harpoon gun getting recolors in addition to the new parts that other figs get), but despite that I still feel like we're sort of coming out ahead as far as interesting new figure parts and accessories are concerned. This is also a decent idea. The Trans. Neon Green weapon pack from the new Ninjago sets could be another good option for further accessorizing new Hidden Side figs.

Well, if the set numbers we already have aren't the full summer lineup, then that also raises the very real possibility that those set numbers aren't summer sets at all, but rather sets that are meant to come out sooner—in which case they are even more likely to tie in with the 1HY story arc rather than a future one. They could potentially be a sort of intermediate wave that comes out in March or April, or retailer-exclusive sets that haven't yet been revealed.

The counterpoint to that is that those sorts of creative takes on licensed franchises are largely to inspire kids to engage with them creatively, rather than just acting out the events of the movies as they happened. I remember way back at the dawn of the Lego Star Wars theme, pretty much every set had a little comic at the end showing a sort of twist on the events of the movies, where the normal sets would be built into one of the alternate models from the box. The Lego Magazines and video games have often done similar sorts of things, adding humor and whimsy to even more serious licenses. In essence, they treat those licensed themes more like how they'd treat any other theme—as a jumping off point for creativity. I dunno. I would think that for all the criticism licensed themes get for "limiting creativity", encouraging that sort of outside the box thinking would be seen as a good thing. Then again, I don't see Lego's current in-house offerings as being negatively impacted by the existence of these sorts of licenses—I've been collecting in-house themes almost exclusively for more than a decade and have rarely felt like they've been negatively impacted by the existence of licensed themes alongside them.

If those are the the only non-Legacy sets we're getting, then personally I think it's far more likely that they WILL be based around the same story arc as the current wave of sets. We've never had a season of the show or even a special based around as few as two sets, after all. Even Day of the Departed got more sets than that. It's also possible that, like March of the Oni this year, we'll be getting some sort of mini-season or special mostly built around the Legacy sets themselves next year as well. That could help fill the gap if there's truly only one full new season of the show.

The Jurassic World sets for the first movie were massively successful—from what I remember Lego and other retailers had trouble keeping up with the holiday demand that year. That’s a big part of why they continued to license the franchise for subsequent movies and even started coming up with original media for the theme to fill the gaps. Also, the main reason why Lego doesn’t release the dinosaurs on their own is the same reason why they don’t sell bigfigs or other non-blindbag figs on their own. The core of their business is as a building toy company, so they try to integrate a creatively inspiring building element into most of their products. Otherwise, they’d just be selling dinosaur toys that were both more expensive (due to Lego’s material quality and precision molding) and less detailed (due to the simplified textures and joints of Lego animals) than what non-building toy competitors could offer. A theme like the original Dinosaurs theme wouldn’t really work with the newer, more detailed dinosaurs since it would lose the creative customization component that that theme revolved around. Even for that theme the designs were heavily compromised to allow multiple dinosaur species to be built with the same general array of parts, and the newer dinosaurs snap together with even less building and customization potential.

Again, it’s not unheard of for a 2HY wave to feature one or two sets that tie in with the previous story arc, even if the rest of the wave is focused on a new story (see Skybound as an example). So just because this version of Zane hasn’t shown up in the sets so far doesn’t mean he won’t ever.

You mean too bad... sounds like it could have been incredible.

For anyone curious, Jorge Gutierrez shared some of his character concepts for the movie here:

The fact that the Jurassic World theme has been more successful than Lego's previous non-licensed Dino theme (despite that theme using most of the same dinosaur molds and starring a descendant of Johnny Thunder to boot) seems to contradict what you're suggesting. I'm not really a fan of the franchise either but having that license clearly nets Lego more sales than the dinosaurs do without that name-brand recognition.